On Friday afternoon I set my alarm for 2:30. Got up, ate and went through the routines before leaving at 4 to head to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge for a little bike race. The race didn’t start until 7:30, but I like to give myself buffer time. On the way I noticed that my phone would not charge. I decided to go ahead and shut it off on the way, so I would have enough battery to play music for 9 hours on airplane mode while racing, if possible.
The buffer time helped again when I had forgotten to get ice before the last chance. I had to pass the Mooresville exit to get ice at the next one and double back. I was blessed with some beautiful sunrise views on the Tennessee river as I got into Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. I had time to get out and enjoy it for a minute, and got a pic to share. I still made it to race start to set up the tent around 6am.
This was my first race since last year’s Alabama Ass Whoopin. (Pause to register for this year, done.) I had done a lot of volunteering for other races and had almost forgotten how exciting it is to show up and see stuff set up for you, especially for an Inaugural event hosted by two friends. Bart, Kat and GSMR knew their way around the race scene, and everything was set up and ready to go when I pulled in.
It was nice to see several old friends for a couple minutes before we lined up for the 9 hour, the first start, at 7:30am. I had pre ridden the course the weekend before and decided that my drop bar mtb was the weapon of choice for comfort. I brought it and my gravel bike, but rode it for 10/13 laps.
The course was absolutely beautiful, and the early start was great. If only the temperature could have stayed the same. It wasn’t as hot as a lot of rides I’ve been on this summer, but it was a long day out in the heat. One of my favorite parts about it was that it was just long enough to not get completely sick of it after 10 laps. The last 3 it was kind of hard to focus on the beauty so much.
It was a long day out there, and I really just enjoyed myself and focused on keeping going. As I rolled in after my 13th lap with 46min to go, I see the other three racers getting in their cars. I was told there was confusion on how many laps I had so they went ahead and did podiums. I might have had enough in me to just go do my 14th lap since I had averaged 37min on my last 3 laps, but the confusion just kinda put me off.
Regardless I was very happy with how I did and really glad that I came. Super thankful to Bart, Kat, Russell, GSMR and everyone that helped. I am looking forward to next year.
I didn’t get a lot of pics, but here they are, https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/h0mcydg3wbt8odbeaoheb/ADcBSB_y9AdEM37SaGK1kig?rlkey=hp4ldbiji3i746nwgcr1933r5&dl=0